


Out of Breath

by SomeGoodSheith



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Happy Ending, I put it on T rate here because I think it's not that bad, Keith is grumpy, Keith swears a lot, Lifeguard!Shiro, M/M, Near Death Experiences, beach au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-29
Updated: 2017-11-29
Packaged: 2019-02-08 08:30:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12860748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SomeGoodSheith/pseuds/SomeGoodSheith
Summary: Keith and his friends go to the beach, despite Keith's rather sour mood. However, he finds his mood turning to a sweeter direction, when he sets his eyes on a very handsome lifeguard.





	Out of Breath

The second I answer my phone, I regret it.

It’s Sunday morning. I should have kept on sleeping. I should have ignored my phone completely or just hung up on whoever that is.

But no. I had to answer it.

And you know what’s even more irritating? Having Lance’s voice screaming into my ear at fucking nine on a fucking Sunday morning.

“Keith! Get up! We’re already outside in the car!” Lance’s voice is practically screeching through the phone. “Did you get your bag ready?! We gotta go! There’s a long ride before us.”

I curse under my breath. “Fine! Fine. I’m up. I’ll be there in five minutes.”

“You better be!” With that, Lance hangs up.

I groan loudly and finally get up to quickly brush my teeth and take the only few things I need in a simple bag.

A towel. Sunscreen. A bottle of water. First aid kit. My wallet. A book.

My phone - I put in the swimming trunks’ pocket. The headphones go around my neck, like I always put them.

I put my sunglasses on and lock my apartment behind me.  _Why the hell is it so bright today?_

“Look who decided to finally show up!” Lance shouts at me once again after he rolls the window down. “Good morning, sleepy-face. Or should I say - sleepy  _hair._ You look like a hurricane got you out of bed, man.”

“Seriously?  _Sleepy hair_? That's the best you can do?”

“Shut up. Get in the car, bro, we wanna go.”

Hunk is sitting beside him, in the driver’s seat, waving at me with a friendly apologetic smile.

I hate them both at the moment.

I put my bag in the trunk and get in the backseat. The only good thing about this trip is that I have this entire space just for myself.

“Remind me again why I agreed to go with you to the fucking beach,” I huff. I make sure they both hear how annoyed I am.

“Because we’re your awesome friends who take you out to have fun instead of letting you stay in bed all day like a sociopath?” Lance smiles at me through the front mirror. “Besides, it's summer break now! And we all passed our tests! What better way there is to celebrate it than going to the beach, getting some tan done and getting all the hot babes?”

“I don’t get tanned. I get burnt,” I groan again. I completely ignore the “babes” part.

“Well, too bad, because I  _do_ get tanned!” Lance says cheekily. “It’s gonna be perfect for my skin.”

“Well, I don’t give a shit.”

“Okay, okay, guys,” Hunk chuckles nervously. “Can we go now? Keith, put your seatbelt please.”

I roll my eyes and buckle up.

With that, and another excited, annoying yelp from Lance, we start the ride. Lance makes sure to connect his phone to the car with the AUX cable, and put his music in full volume.

After a short while of driving, I pull the seat belt away and lie down in the backseat, with my feet against the window and my head on one of Hunk’s bags. I put my headphones on and put my own music loud enough to overcome any other noise, and close my eyes.

Now I can catch up with the sleep they made me miss.

  


*

  


I wake up to the feeling of my legs drop on the seat.

“Keith. Keith, wake up. We’re here.”

I realize that voice is much softer - it must be Hunk. He stands right in front of my feet, after pulling the door open, with the sun on his back and a smile on his face. I pout nonetheless.

After stretching myself and yawning, I put my flip-flops back on my feet and pull myself up. Good thing I still have my sunglasses on, since Hunk decided to move just a moment ago and reveal the huge beam of sunlight right into my eyes.

I lazily get out of the car and stretch again. Hunk and Lance already take their bags out of the truck, and I wait for them to finish - Hunk brought way too much stuff - until I can finally take mine. I can see Lance in the corner of my eye and I only now notice his weird star shaped sunglasses and his Hawaiian flower necklace and I have a feeling he's up to something. It’s just turned eleven in the morning, and it’s a hot, hot summer day. If I was in a better mood, I might’ve enjoyed it. I’m not, so I pout even more.

“Oh, come on, Keith! Stop being such a pain in the butt. Live a little!” Lance puts his arm around my shoulders and I fight myself not to kick his stomach. “You’re already here. You might as well enjoy yourself.” I roll my eyes again and get his arm off of me.

“We'll see about that,” is all I say.

The three of us enter the beach together. Hunk and Lance continue to walk without a care, I stop and sigh with annoyance.

I like the beach, usually. No, actually - “like” isn't the right word. I  _appreciate_  it. I think it can be beautiful at times, and the quieter it is, the better.

That's not how the beach is today. It's filled with too many people, who have too many parasols, children and garbage. I can hear loud music and shouts in a farther part of the beach, and I immediately know exactly why Lance was so eager this morning, and why he looks so festive.

I find myself hesitating in going any further, but Hunk is putting his hand on my shoulder and flashes one of his  _it's gonna be okay_  smiles. “Sorry we didn't tell you that there's a party here, man. Lance was afraid you'd refuse to come.”

“Well. He wasn't wrong,” I sigh.

“But hey, c’mon, you don't have to go to that party, you know. I'm not going either. Pidge and her brother are here too, we can hang out with them. We can play cards and I brought a ball, and we can go for a swim too. What do you say?”

“And, most importantly - we can bury Lance in sand and make a mermaid outta him,” says a young, female voice on my other side - it's Pidge, who is walking towards us and waves. We wave back, and I can't help but smile, and while Hunk hugs her like he hasn’t seen her in years, I just wrap my free arm around her small shoulders and tap. She does the same.

“Knowing Lance, he wouldn't say no to that,” Hunk chuckles. “What's up, Pidge? Are you here for long?”

“Nah, we got here about thirty minutes ago. We're lucky to have found somewhere to sit.” She says. “But hey, speaking of Lance - where is he?”

“He went on to find us a spot and probably watch some pretty girls on the way.” Hunk shrugs. Like on cue, Lance whistles at us and waves to make us follow him. Behind him we can see Matt, Pidge’s brother, and we already know the spot he “found” is most likely where the Holts are. None of us is surprised.

We all make our way together. I look at the hot sand burst on my feet, until I hear Matt talking to someone. I stop walking and look at them, just out of curiosity, and even though I have my sunglasses on, I move them down a bit.

“Hey, Shiro!” He calls, looking at the lifeguard’s high stand to our left. At first, I can’t clearly see the man he’s talking to since he sits in the shade, and everything else is too bright around him. Then, he gets up and comes into the light.

Suddenly, he’s the one that’s too bright for everything else.

“You’re on duty today, huh? What a shame! The bunch of us ‘re gonna have tons of fun and you’re stuck up there!”

That Shiro guy laughs cynically. “Well at least I’m getting paid for being here!” He calls back with a beautiful smile. “Tell Pidge and your folks I said hi!”

“Our parents aren't here today, but I'll text them! See ya later!” They finally wave at each other, and I can’t help but keep on watching the lifeguard for a few more seconds. He keeps on looking at our direction as well, and suddenly I realize he’s waving at me.

Damn. I must be staring.

I manage to wave back somehow, and practically run away. My face feels so hot and I  _know_ it’s not because of the sun. I curse myself for not bringing a hat today either, because now I can't hide how embarrassed I am.

Fuck. I hate me so much.

  


*

  


The day goes much better than I originally expected. I spend most of it with Hunk, Pidge and Matt, if it’s by swimming, building sand castles (and ruining them violently - that’s the best part), or just playing cards. After Lance comes back from the party he was in on the other side of the beach, I kick his ass in a quick volleyball match. His punishment is, of course, to become a sand mermaid. Pidge doesn’t miss the chance to take pictures of everyone and everything around, including me, despite my desperate attempts to avoid her camera.

When I get tired of being with the others, I sit underneath the Holts’ parasol and read the book I brought along with me. At some point Hunk sees me and asks me if I drank some water today, and I automatically say yes.

After a while, I see Matt sitting by the point where the water hits the sand. I think about it for a bit, and then I decide to go and join him. I'm thankful that Pidge, who was with him before, is walking to another direction - now I can talk to him privately.

“Hey…” I stutter. He looks up at me and smiles.

“Hey, Keith! If you're looking for Pidge, she went that other way to look for more seashells.”

“Oh, um… thanks, but I… I wasn't looking for her. I uh… I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Oh?” He asks and blinks a few times. We don't talk too much in private usually, but we do get along. “Okay. Go ahead.”

I sit beside him and pull my knees to my chest. I can feel my heart beating so fast. Fuck. “Um… that… That lifeguard… You know him, right?”

“Who, Shiro? Yeah. We go to the same classes,” Matt smiles. It means he's going to the same college as us. That’s cool. “Why are you asking?”

“Ah - no - no reason. I just, um, saw you talking when we got here and ah… I was just wondering.” I want to punch myself because my cover sounds so weak.

Matt hums. His suggestive smile is both irritating and giving me hope.

My face can't get any redder as I think about what more I can ask. I can't even face Matt now. I just look down like an idiot and do my best not to just shout at him for that stupid smile. “What is he like?...” I finally ask again.

I can hear him hum in thought. “Mmm… Well, he's a really fun guy to be around. There's always stuff to talk about with him and he's always good for laughs. He's very smart, and really nice to others…” he pauses and I'm certain that he's looking right at me. “... and he's both perfectly single and into men.”

My heart skips a beat. I open my mouth, but not much comes out. “Oh. Th-that’s, uh… I mean…”

He laughs at me and taps my back. “Dude, don't be so nervous. I'm sure he's gonna like you, if you try to approach him.”

“R-really?” I whisper.

“Yeah, of course! I'm sure of it. I can even ask him for you, if you want. Or maybe - introduce you?”

“No! No. Don't introduce me. And don't… Don't ask him. I… I'll think about it.” I pause, and finally have the courage to look at Matt again. “Thanks.”

“Anytime.” He says. I can see Pidge coming back with her hands filled with seashells, and as much as I like those, I don't want this issue to be spread around. I get up, ask him to keep this talk between us, and after he agrees, I say bye and leave.

  


*

  


From time to time, I look at the Shiro’s stand, which isn’t too far away from us. When I get lucky, I can see his back when he stands and talks to people with his megaphone. I smile whenever I hear him, and then I feel stupid and curse myself for paying a stranger so much attention.

The luckiest I get to be today is when Hunk and I go to buy some ice cream. We pass the lifeguard right in front of his stand, and I almost automatically glance up to look at him. I watch his white bangs blow in the wind, and it's completely pale in comparison to the black undercut he has on the rest of his head; I watch his chest radiating in the sun, and his right arm that's made of metal - and though I know the story of why he has a prosthetic must be hard, I can't help but think how cool it looks on him. I swear I can see something on his nose - a scar maybe? - but his sunglasses are covering most of it. Hunk says something that I can't hear, because at that very moment, the lifeguard is smiling and I swear to God he looks directly at me.

I don't even notice that I smile too, and that my hand is half the way up for a small wave, when suddenly Hunk puts his hand on my shoulder. “Earth to Keith!” he says, and I jump and turn to him. “I know you're busy staring at your new crush, and even though I admit that's adorable ‘cause that never happens, we're still on an important mission here. I want my ice cream!”

“What? I - I don't have a crush!” I say a bit too loudly. I can see by the face that he's making that he doesn't believe me. I pout and cross my arms. “Are we getting ice cream or not?”

“Yes!” Hunk practically drags me away from our spot and on to the little kiosk behind the shopping center.

I still feel warm inside, thinking about what just happened.

  


*

 

I take a nap for a while in the warm side of Pidge and Matt’s parasol, where the sun hits just above me, and the shade is far behind. I do my best to sleep off the slight pain I feel in my head.

I don't dream about anything. It's better that way, I think.

  


*

  


I put the sunscreen on myself again when the afternoon turns into evening. We're here since the morning, but this entire day is actually pretty nice.

When the guys and I go again for a final swim, I go to Lance and poke him with my elbow. “Thanks for… making me come today.” I mumble. I don't look at him directly.

Even without watching, I know Lance's smile is bigger than ever. He's so proud of himself at the moment, his eyes must be screaming  _I told you so_. “That's what friends are for, buddy! I knew you'd thank me in the end.”

“Don't overdo it,” I tell him. “You won't hear me saying it again.”

I do my best to ignore that hellish headache that attacks me.

The water is warm. Too warm for my taste, but I get used to it. The waves aren't peaceful either, but we all have our fun. We splash around and we swim and laugh. We barely notice that we're getting farther away from shore, but we can hear the lifeguard's voice echoing through his megaphone. “The ocean is not quiet. Please come out of the water. I repeat, the water is getting dangerous. Please come back to shore.”

I know I need to go back like the others do, but I see something in the corner of my eye. I turn and see a little girl, who doesn't look older than six, on a surfboard alone a bit further away from me.

Despite the high waves and the tiredness that makes my body hurt, I swim to her and get my hands on her surfboard. “Hey. What’re you doing here? Where‘re your parents?” I ask breathlessly.

She looks at me with those big blue eyes of hers. I can see she does her best not to cry.

“Okay. C’mon. Let's get you to shore, okay? Then we'll look for your parents?”

She nods and I start to swim with her surfboard in front of me. I keep her above the waves as much as I can, but it's getting harder the more we go.

My breaths are too deep. I know it. I feel like puking, too, and my throat is so dry it's hard to swallow. I blink hard - my eyes feel so heavy.

Did I even drink today? I told Hunk I did, but now that I think about it -

I hear someone calling the girl's name - it looks like it's her dad. He takes her to him and thanks me, and us three try to swim back to the beach. But before we know it, the waves are getting stronger, enough to pull me away from that man and his daughter.

The man shouts to me, but I can't really hear what he says.

After that, they’re both gone.

All I hear now are the waves and my breaths - they turned to gasps by now. My head's  _killing_  me. I try my best to move, to do something,  _anything_ , but I'm too exhausted and distracted from the pain and dizziness and before I know it - the water that hits me takes me down. I somehow manage to swim up to the surface but I can barely draw my breath when another wave comes for me again, and again I'm under the water.

I can't reach the surface anymore.

I can't breathe.

_I can't breathe._

_Oh no. Nononononono - ! I don't wanna die I don't wanna die I don't wanna die I don't wanna die I don't want to die like this - I can't die like this, I can't, I can't, I CAN'T -_

_I  C A N ‘ T  B R E A - -_

My lungs burn with salty water.

Suddenly, my entire body is going numb and heavy. My mouth is open, but I can't make a sound. I can't scream or move. I don't even know what's happening. It's like everything is so… So fucking calm. Like I'm dreaming. Like I'm frozen and my body won't listen to me. And I can somehow acknowledge that my head is lifting up, but I don't know why.

Why is everything so still?

A fragment of one last thought is going through my head:

_I didn't even get to talk to Sh -_

Then suddenly, everything starts to fade away. Darkness is taking over me, and even the pain is drifting away. My eyes were squeezed shut because of the salty water, but now, I can feel them getting… Soft.

I don't even know when I started sinking, but I can't even think about it now. I can't think about anything…

I'm… I…

  


*

  


The first thing I can feel is something pressed to my mouth. It's… Warm. And it's giving me air.

Then I realize something soft is pinching my nose, and something cold is pressing under my chin.

The breeze is cold, but something is blocking some of it.

I try to think about what's going on but instead I find myself coughing. Water is spilling out of me and my lungs are burning. I try to open my eyes but I'm too tired, and everything is too damn bright.

The warmth on my nose and mouth is gone, and instead, something hard - I think it's made of plastic - is covering them now. It's giving me air, too.

I blink when a voice is talking. Then I notice there's a shadow above me. It's getting clearer a bit, and then more, and then I can see it.

It's Shiro’s face.

He's talking, and I can't really understand what he's saying at first.

“... Keith.”

Oh.

He holds one of his metal fingers in front of my face. “Follow my finger with your eyes, Keith.” His voice is finally clear enough for me to understand and do as he asks. It makes him smile, and I feel a bit proud of that.

He's looking up and talks to someone else, so I get the chance to look at the sky that he was blocking before. It's… Purple and red… Must be evening already. I move my fingers to feel the sand underneath me, but other than that, it's hard to move.

His hand is pressing the oxygen mask on my mouth and nose this entire time. It gives me a bit of comfort.

He leans above me again. His face is so close to mine, I think I’m gonna explode.

His eyes are so beautiful, though, and his scar is, too - it really is a scar, like I thought before.

“Keith. The ambulance is almost here. You must be very confused, but please don't panic. You're safe now.”

I don't understand what it is that I'm safe from because I can't really think properly… But I do know he says my name a lot, and that sounds so good in his voice. I focus on him, or at least I try. I can hear the others - Lance, Hunk and Pidge - somewhere near me, but I can't really turn to them or speak without feeling nauseous or too tired.

I hear a distant sound of sirens. Must be the ambulance Shiro was talking about… I want it to stop making so much noise. My head hurts. My body hurts. Shiro's prosthetic hand is on my mask, and he's so close to me, still speaking to me, but as much as I wanna listen to him all day… I wanna sleep…

Let me sleep… just for a minute...

  


*

  


When I wake up again, I'm lying on something so soft - a bed. I take a deep breath when I open my eyes, but it's hard to see - everything is too bright again. When I can finally open my eyes without feeling any pain, I realize I'm in a hospital. There are a few cables and small tubes connected to me, but the oxygen mask is gone.

I turn my head to see Hunk, Lance, Pidge and Matt sitting beside me.

Hunk notices first. “Hey! Guys, he's awake!” He calls, and everyone is looking at me. They get up and surround me, and I can't help but feel a bit embarrassed.

“Keith, man, how do you feel?” Lance asks, but his voice is too high and strong for me. Pidge notices and nudges him. “Ah. Sorry.” He says, softly this time. “How are you?”

“I'm… ah… A bit thirsty, actually.” I mumble. Matt is going out of the room after that. “Um… I don't really… remember what happened.” I confess.

“Dude. You don't remember? You almost died today!” Lance says loudly again, and I blink at him. “We were all swimming back but you weren't with us. Luckily the awesome lifeguard was there to help you.”

I blink slowly again, trying to think about what he just said, and suddenly it all comes back to me. “Wait. What about the girl?” I ask. “There was a girl on a surfboard with her dad, too… and the water was so strong that it separated us… Are they okay? Did you find them?”

They all look at me like I'm high.

“What are you talking about?” Pidge asks. Her brother comes back into the room with a glass of water and puts it beside me, and I look at him gratefully. “There was no one with us when we swam, and no one came to shore from your direction. It was just us.”

“And what do you mean, the water was strong? It was pretty chill,” Lance adds.

I look at them all confusedly. “B… But… it didn't feel… Chill. It felt like a storm.”

“Well, the one that saw you in time was the lifeguard,” Hunk says, and I can see he tries to hide a smile. I feel my heart jump because of that. “So maybe he can tell us what happened.”

At that moment, there's a knock on the door. I hope for a moment that it's gonna be Shiro and my heart beats so fast I'm sure I'm gonna have a heart attack - but it's just a nurse. I ignore everyone's stare at the heart monitor and thankfully they don't say anything. When she sees I'm awake, she comes to check me up and says she'll call a doctor. She tells the others to get out so the doctor can test me properly, and after they tell me they'll be out in some coffee shop until the doctor finishes, I’m left alone.

When the doctor comes, I ask him what exactly happened to me. “Well,” he says, “you suffered from a heat stroke and as a result, you almost drowned. Luckily for you, the lifeguard managed to notice you just in time. You were actually less than a minute away from irreversible brain damage.”

I gulp hard and look down - I can’t face this half-disappointed half-pitiful expression. “Is… Is that why I thought the water was storming?” My voice is so quiet I can barely hear myself, but I can’t talk more loudly than that. I just can’t. “I mean… my friends told me the water was totally fine and that there was no one there with us… even though I thought I saw someone, so…”

“A powerful enough heat stroke can cause hallucinations, yes. In your case, your heat stroke wasn’t the severest one there can be, but it was strong enough to cause such disorientation, weakness and lightheadedness to make you see or hear things that didn’t happen, or that you thought were one thing when they actually were something entirely different.” He continues with the examination and tells me what to do and what to avoid for the next few days. “I’ll come to check on you again later. Once I see the results, I’ll be able to determine when to release you. I believe it would be best for you to stay the night here for observation, but we’ll see what the tests will bring. In the meantime, have some rest, alright?”

I nod and thank him quietly before he leaves. I feel like such a moron - how did I let this all happen?

After a few moments, I hear a knock on the door. I can barely feel annoyed by the disturbance, when I hear a voice from the other side.

“Um… Keith? This is Shiro, the lifeguard from the beach… may I come in?”

I freeze. Sh…  _Shiro_? Why is he here? Is he here for… For  _me_?

He's calling my name again, and my chest fills up with butterflies.

“Ah - - yeah! Yes, you can come in.” I tell him, and I give everything I have for my voice to sound normal and not too emotional. When he opens the door and steps in, I can't help but stare.

He looks at me and smiles widely. I can't understand if it's from embarrassment or kindness or something else. “Um… Hi.” He mumbles. “I, ah… I have your bag.” He lifts it up with his prosthetic arm and shows it to me. “I found it on the beach. Your friends must have forgotten about it after you were evacuated.”

 _Typical_.

He brings me the bag and I nod gratefully. “I hope you don't mind that I looked inside,” he says, “I just checked who that belongs to at first… And then I wanted to make sure that everything important is in there.”

I can't help but think how sweet he is. He looks so embarrassed that he had to invade my privacy, so to speak, by looking through my stuff, when he was actually being so kind to make sure to return it properly.

“Thank you. Everything is here.” I smile. “And, of course, more importantly… Thank you for saving my life. Without you… I would've… Never made it.”

I swear to God his cheeks look redder than before.

“O-of course! You're welcome. I'm only glad I was able to help and that you're all better now.”

A small moment of silence is awkwardly falling between us. Despite that, I see that he doesn't hurry to go. I tell him to take a sit beside me, and he does.

I lick my lips and clutch my bag closer to my chest. “How… How did you notice? That - that I was drowning?”

He looks stunned for a moment. I have no idea why. “Well, it's - I'm trained to something like this, of course, and it was the end of my shift and I had to make sure everyone comes to shore before I -”

“Wait -” I interrupt, “ _that's_  what you said?”

“... What do you mean?”

“I mean… I know I heard you back then, but I was certain you said… That the water was dangerous and… that's why you wanted everyone to go back.”

He watches me for a moment and then, he smiles again. Such a kind, soft smile. I can't get enough of it. “It must be because of the heat stroke you suffered from.” He confirms what the doctor told me earlier. “I… I noticed when you went to swim, so… I knew where to look, I guess…”

Now it's my turn to look at him with wide eyes. He… Noticed me?

He chuckles and keeps on looking at me. “What?”

I feel my cheeks burn.

Fuck, fuck. I… I never felt like this before. My heart is racing, like… like…

The machine beside me beeps like crazy because of that, and I feel even more self-aware now. Shit. I'm caught right on the spot, aren't I?

He gets up and leans towards me. His expression is somehow a combination of shyness, worry and… Is that… A smile I see on his face again…?

He puts his hand on my cheek and looks right into my eyes. I notice that he uses his human hand, even though he's clearly right handed. “Keith,” he says so softly, I think I'm melting. Somehow, even though he's so close… I suddenly feel much more relaxed. “It's alright. You're safe now. You've got nothing to worry about.”

Licking my dry lips, I'm about to say something in return, but he opens his mouth again to speak. He takes his time, like he's thinking about what to say or how to say it. As I stare at his lips, I suddenly realize that when we were on the beach after he rescued me… he was the one who did the CPR on me. His lips were  _actually_  on mine for that. Just thinking about it makes my face go entirely red.

“Keith…” his voice is cutting through my thoughts, and I concentrate on him again. “I didn't come here only to bring you your bag back.”

I can't get my eyes off of him. Not for a single second. “Then… What is it?” I whisper.

His smile is getting bigger, and so is mine. “I like you.”

My breath is stopping in my throat for a moment. He…  _Likes me?_  “I… really?” I mumble.

“Yeah… I really do.”

“Even if we talked only for a few minutes?”

“Yeah.” He whispers. “And… I noticed how you looked at me today, and… I… I wanted to say that… I looked at you, too. When I had the chance.”

No one has ever told me anything like that before.

“I want to get to know you, Keith. If you'll let me… I'll be happy to.” He continues, and I know I smile as widely as my face lets me. I nod fiercely, and then I take his hand and hold it in mine. I mostly feel like crying.

“I… I'd love that.” I can barely say. “I like you, too.”

“Then…” He starts again, looking at our hands together. He squeezes my palm and then lets it go. I look at him curiously, and he looks back at me. “We should introduce ourselves properly. We didn't do that until now, so. We should do it right.”

I laugh like an idiot and nod again. “Alright. Go ahead then, stranger.”

“I'm Takashi Shirogane, but everyone calls me Shiro. It's nice to meet you.” He holds his hand out towards me, and without hesitation, I shake it.

“My name is Keith. Keith Kogane.” I tell him. Neither one of us is letting go, even when the handshake is over. “It's very nice to meet you, too… Takashi.”

  


*

  


We end up talking for hours, about everything, and about nothing. I feel like I've known him for years, even though we only met today.

Eventually he really does have to go, though, much to my disappointment. I don't even notice how late it is, at first, but when he shows me the hour on his phone’s screen, I sigh in defeat. He keeps on doing something on his phone and suddenly gives it to me. I look at the screen and feel my cheeks heat up again.

I smile when I put my number in his contact list.

“I'll call you tomorrow,” he promises, and I nod,  still smiling like a moron.

“I'll look forward to it,” I manage to say. I give him back his phone and our hands touch, and some part of me hopes he won't let go. When he does, I feel the warmth still tingling on my fingers for a second.

He says goodnight and finally, I'm alone in the room. I lean my head back against the pillow and try to settle the butterflies in my stomach by breathing deeply. It doesn't really work, but I don't care.

My phone vibrates in my bag. I take it out and see a text from Shiro - it hasn't even been two minutes since he left, and yet here he is, sending me an adorable message.

I don't regret going out of bed today anymore. 

**Author's Note:**

> Whenever I write, my stories end up either erased or never publish. This one was fun to write, and after some encouragement from my close friends, I decided that this fic's fate will be different (hopefully, some more will come in the future). 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! I would really love to know your opinion! :>


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